Manihar in India

The Manihar are a community who work with stones, glass, ivory, and tin foils to make bangles and beads. It is really a cottage industry with all members of the family employed in the endeavor. They also sell goods like cosmetics, tikli (forehead jewelry) and sealing wax. Due to the international ban on elephant tusks, they now make ornately carved bangles from plastic. The Manihar have large families and rely heavily on the public distribution system to buy subsidized grain, cooking oil and kerosene. Many remain dependent on and in debt to local moneylenders and shopkeepers for credit.

Ministry Obstacles
A low literacy rate suggests the need for the gospel to come to the Manihar in oral form.

Outreach Ideas
Since there are no believers among the Manihar people and they live mainly in Uttar Pradesh, one of India's least reached states, pray for a team of people to regularly pray for them until they have a church planting movement.

Pray for the followers of Christ
Pray that when there are Manihar believers, that they will be a blessing to their families by praying for the sick and those who are suffering. Pray that they will help their families economically and spiritually.

Pray for the entire people group
* Pray for the Manihar community to find good markets for the products that they make. * Pray for a rapidly increasing rate of literacy, especially among the younger people. * Pray that missionaries might find an opportunity to share the gospel message with the Manihar people.

Scripture Focus
"Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." Matthew 25:40

Presented by Joshua Project
www.joshuaproject.net